Triumph of Peter Doig, the painter who stuck to his own course

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When Peter Doig’s major retrospective exhibition opens next week, there will
not be a single shark or unmade bed on view. But if the prices that his
canvases fetch are anything to go by, beauty now beats sensationalism in the
art market.

Six years ago Doig’s painting White Canoe sold at Sotheby’s for
£7 million: then an auction record for a living European artist. In February The
Architect’s Home in the Ravine fetched £8.5 million.

Meanwhile, Damien Hirst prices have fallen by 30 per cent and an exhibition in
New York by the joke-artist Maurizio Cattelan was labelled a dud.

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Peter Doig's Grande Riviere, 2001-2002

2013-07-27 00:01:00.0 Courtesy Peter Doig

Peter Doig's Grande Riviere, 2001-2002

2013-07-27 00:01:00.0 Courtesy Peter Doig

Peter Doig's Pelican (Stag), 2003

2013-07-27 00:01:00.0 Courtesy Peter Doig

Paul Gauguin's And the Gold of their Bodies, 1901. The artist is an influence for Doig

2013-07-27 00:01:00.0 Bridgeman Art Library

Peter Doig believes that people want more from art than just a quick thrill